


Hate, love and what lies in-between

by Erizee



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Day 6, Feelings, Jealousy, M/M, at this point it's still canon compliant, nygmobblepotweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-23
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2019-01-04 10:02:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12166704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erizee/pseuds/Erizee
Summary: Ed stared in disdain at the scenery in front of him as he shakily sipped his drink. At the stranger standing uncomfortably close to his former best friend, one hand on his shoulder, whispering into his ear.Oswald suddenly started moving. His hand covered the one the stranger had laid on his shoulder and... was he caressing it??Ed grit his teeth and he set his drink aside before he could spill it. He mentally reminded himself to calm down. Causing a fight now wouldn't do anything but get Ed kicked out and very possibly murdered, but..





	Hate, love and what lies in-between

"Thank you Mr. Kane, that will be sufficient."

As soon as Oswald's employee had left the room with another warm smile towards his boss, Ivy turned towards Oswald, an unbelieving look on her face. "Really, Pengy?" Oswald rolled his eyes. "Do you have to be against every single person I take in? He does his job without question and that's what matters."  
"You know damn well that's not what I mean. He looks exactly like a certain _someone_ currently on display in the middle of our club!"

Oswald scoffed and ran his hand over his face in an effort to hide how uneasy the suggestion made him. He had frozen the only man he had ever loved to be able to forget him and shut that part of him off, not to fall for the first person that slightly resembled him.  
It wasn't the first time Ivy had suggested their resemblance either. Every time she had witnessed him talk to Mr. Kane in the past weeks, she had sent him a meaningful look and gestured towards his beautiful centerpiece.  
He hadn't expected her to say it so boldly though.

"You're wrong."  
"Oh, come on, Ozzie, you can't tell me you haven't noticed. The only thing missing are the glasses!"

He hadn't given her insinuations any thought worth mentioning before, and he wouldn't do so now. What she was suggesting was ridiculous.

"Ivy, don't be ridiculous. They share a passing resemblance at best. Are you suggesting he's a clone?"  
She rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to reply, but he raised his hand to stop her. "This is the only second chance to make it right, Ivy. Don't ruin this for me."

Her expression changed from concern to one of irritation. Without saying another word, she abruptly stood up and left the room. Oswald thought he could hear her mutter something that sounded like "irony" and "his precious Nygma" but he didn't give it much thought. There were more important things on his mind now.  
He still had some things to settle before he could open the Lounge for the public.

-

"Sorry boss. We couldn't find him."  
The henchman flinched as the glass Oswald had held in his hand shattered only inches away from him on the wall.  
"Do I pay you idiots for nothing?? If you don't find Nygma before he finds me, I'm a dead man! Not to mention each and every one of you! I hope I don't have to list all the things I could do to you and your families if you don't find him."

The henchman shook his head rapidly. The cold sweat on his forehead was visible even from where Oswald's was standing.  
"No, boss. We know."  
"Then why are you still standing here?? GET OUT! AND FIND EDWARD NYGMA!!"

The henchman left and Oswald shakily poured himself another drink.  
Ever since the day Ed had escaped he hadn't slept for longer than an hour at a time. The terrible fear of his former best friend returning to finish what he had started twice was all-consuming and rendered Oswald incapable of thinking clearly.

It wasn't that he blamed Ed for wanting his revenge with how insistent Oswald usually was on his. Oswald knew what he did and he knew he would act no different if someone killed someone he loved. He had done so twice after all.  
No, it wasn't Ed's revenge that scared him. He knew what he had started.  
What really terrified him to the point of being unable to sleep or find any kind of rest was the knowledge that even if Ed showed up and even if Oswald had the upper hand, he would never be able to kill him.

He could freeze Ed in a block of ice for months, he could lie to him and about him for weeks, but he could never kill him.  
And that terrified him.  
Ed was out there, doing god knows what with god knows who, making plans to kill Oswald once again, and even if Oswald would find him he wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

A soft knock on the door pulled Oswald out of his thoughts.  
"Come in." Thankfully the nervosity Oswald felt wasn't noticeable in his voice.

The door opened and Mr. Kane entered and smiled warmly. He let the door fall shut behind him and folded his arms behind his back. His whole demeanour reminded Oswald of his former best friend.  
"You wanted to see me, Mr. Penguin?"  
Oswald nodded stiffly and stood up, gripping his cane tightly.  
"I want you to lead another group of henchmen on their search for E-.. Nygma."  
"That's.. an honour, Mr. Penguin, but I'm already leading two due to your order and-" "I DON'T CARE!" 

The man seemed a little startled, but didn't otherwise show any reaction to his boss' outburst.  
Oswald ran his hands over his face and sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. It's just.."  
Mr. Kane's reassuring and supportive smile triggered something in Oswald and suddenly the words spilled out of him.

"It's just that have to find Ed before he tries to kill me again and if these morons can't manage even that I'm dead and I can't even blame him for trying to kill me because I'm the one that started everything and I can't..."

The hand on Oswald's shoulder startled him. His head shot up to Mr. Kane's warm gaze.  
Oswald involuntarily swallowed. Those dark brown eyes looking at him like that... how often had he dreamed of sharing a moment like this with Ed.

"Mr Penguin.. I hope I'm not being invasive when I say that there's nothing for you to worry about." The hand slowly traveled further up Oswald's shoulder. The tip of his tumb grazed Oswald's neck and he had to supress a shiver.  
"N-no, of course not. I'm the one that asked you to come, after all."

Mr. Kane smiled warmly and Oswald could feel his hand move further up, until it laid warm and soft against his cheek, covering Oswald's slight blush.

Oswald's heart was beating twice as fast as normal. Those brown eyes came closer and closer and Oswald's gaze traveled down to Mr Kane's lips.

"May I, Mr. Penguin?" Oswald could only nod.  
Mr. Kane surged downwards and captured Oswald's lips with his own. A soft sound of surprise escaped his throat, a sound his employee quickly swallowed.  
The kiss didn't become heated, but it was.. pleasant. How often had Oswald longed to do this with.. "E-Ed.."  
As soon as the word left Oswald's throat he wished he could take them back.  
Apruptly, Oswald pulled back from Mr. Kane's all too sweet lips and tried to build up some distance between them.

"I-I'm sorry, I.."  
Mr. Kane shook his head. "Don't apologise, Mr Penguin." He slowly came closer to Oswald.  
"It's alright. I know I look like him and I know what happened between you two. It's okay."

He kept coming closer. Oswald didn't have the will to move away.  
He didn't have the strength to call his men waiting just outside the door, or to push away the hands gently taking hold of his face.

\------

Ed stared in disdain at the scenery in front of him as he shakily sipped his drink. At the stranger standing uncomfortably close to his former best friend, one hand on his shoulder, whispering into his ear.

This was the first time he visited the Iceberg Lounge after his escape from said place. He still didn't know how it had happened. The last weeks had been a blur of confusion and scattered memories.  
His friendship, if it could even be called that, with Grundy and Thompkins had been a lot of help in regaining his memory and intellect, but they had done nothing for the confusing mess of feelings in Ed. How could they, if he had never told them about them.  
The center of those feelings, from the first time he had noticed them, had always been his former mentor, employer, best friend and enemy Oswald Cobblepot.

Ed had decided to visit his newest club. Maybe a single look at him would help already. Maybe just seeing him would be enough to bring order back into this tangled mess of emotion.

The only thing seeing his friend had done however, was instilling a deep and boiling rage in Ed's heart.  
Something about the way he was listening to that man next to him bothered Ed. Maybe it was the tiny smile that had once been reserved solely for Ed, or the way Oswald leant towards this stranger with his entire body even though he only did something as simple as talking into his ear.  
Ed wasn't even sure if his rage was directed towards Oswald or his newest best friend.

Oswald suddenly started moving. His hand covered the one the stranger had laid on his shoulder and... was he caressing it???  
Ed grit his teeth and he set his drink aside before he could spill it. He mentally reminded himself to calm down. Causing a fight now wouldn't do anything but get Ed kicked out and very possibly murdered, but..  
But then he caught sight of the soft smile on the stranger's face as he returned the caressing touch and something inside him snapped.  
The glass in Ed's hand broke under his tight grip but he paid it no mind as he made his way over to the offender.

Ed could see the exact moment Oswald saw him. His eyes widened almost comically and he frantically patted his clothes with his left hand, probably searching for a gun, and gestured to someone Ed couldn't see with his right.

Ed ignored all that, his own gun, that he had taken with him in case of him having to defend himself, forgotten and grabbed the stranger with one hand around his throat and the other in his suit and pushed him against the wall.

The stranger frantically tried to breathe, but Ed pressed his palm hard into his windpipe with and snarled.  
"Who are you?? What are you doing with Oswald?? ANSWER ME!"  
The stranger tried to pry Ed's hands away from his throat, but he only tightened his grip.

"Ed! Let him go this instant!" Ed didn't listen. This man was bad news, he could see it.  
A huge hand grabbed the back of Ed's suit and dragged him away from the stranger. He had to pry Ed's hands loose from the suit he was still holding in a death grip.

Only a second later, Ed stared into the barrel of Oswald's gun. "What are you doing here, Ed?"  
Ed ignored Oswald's question. "Who is _that_?", he spit out through gritted teeth. "He works for me. Answer my question!"

Ed swallowed. The rage in him slowly faded and the ever-present confusion he felt returned in full force. The way Oswald looked at him didn't help in the slightest. On the contrary, Oswald's wide eyes confused him even more.  
Oswald was just as conflicted as Ed was. But why? He had every reason to hate Ed, just like Ed had to hate Oswald. Then why was it so hard? Why was there something else as well?

The gun in Oswald's hand was shaking and his grip on the gun tightened as Ed took a cautious step forward. Multiple guns with a huge variety in size clicked all across the room, but before anyone could deliver the fatal shot, Oswald's hand flew up to stop them.

"Don't shoot until I say so!"  
"But boss-" "No!"  
Oswald let Ed come closer without stopping him. The barrel of the still shaking gun almost touched Ed's chest before he stopped.  
"Why are you here, Ed?"

Ed frowned. His trip to visit his old friend had done nothing but further his uncertainty. "I came here because.. I have to deal with you. And my.." He swallowed hard. Saying it out loud was hard. "...feelings about you."

Oswald blinked and readjusted his hold on the gun. "I don't understand."  
Neither did Ed really, but he just had to say it.  
"I... I'm not sure what I feel. For anyone. But with you it's.." He made a helpless gesture with his hands. "It's more complicated."

Ed took another step forward. The gun was pressed against his chest now. Any shot would be fatal now.  
Oswald's face hardened for a second, wavering.  
"I know what I remember, but I need to find out what I feel. It's important. Maybe the most important thing now."

Ed could see Oswald's throat working as he swallowed. He seemed to search for the right words to say. Ed waited with baited breath, his heart beating in his throat. Why was he so nervous?

Finally, Oswald looked directly at Ed, his face hard and full of intent.

"I can't help you with that. You say you remember? Then you also remember what I said to you before I froze you." Ed nodded rapidly. "Yes, but-" "I said I would never make that mistake again. And I won't."

Ed shot a glance to the young man still standing too close to Oswald. He was half hiding behind him. A hot flare of rage shot through Ed. "Yeah, I can see that."  
Oswald squinted and let his finger hover closer to the trigger of his gun. "What's that supposed to mean?"  
Ed scoffed and gestured towards the stranger. "You seem to have moved on just fine."

Oswald didn't answer for a while. He just blinked. Then, the corners of his mouth twitched upwards, betraying his stern exterior.  
"Are you... jealous?"  
"What??", Ed sputtered. Of course not! He wasn't jealous. No way. That just wasn't... No. He wasn't jealous.

"Why would I be jealous of someone that..." Ed trailed off. For the first time he really looked at the stranger. He took in his neat suit, the high forehead, the dark brown hair without even a strand of hair out of place.  
Ed smirked and a strange rush of elation took over the place his rage had held. "Why would I be jealous of someone that looks like a cheap knock-off of me?"  
He leaned slightly closer towards his former best friend until he could see the tiny drops of sweat on his forehead and the slightest tint of red on his cheeks and the gun was pressing uncomfortably into his chest.

"You still love me, don't you, Oswald?"  
He purposely drawled his name, lowering his voice slightly.  
Oswald's face was answer enough.  
"Somewhere, deep down, you still want me. You still want to k-" "Get to the point!!" Oswald's cheeks were deliciously red.  
"So far you've done nothing but attack my employees and make outrageous assumptions. I suggest you get the point now, or I'll have you tortured." Neither of them chose to comment on Oswald's refusal to just shoot his former best friend. Just one little press of his trigger finger and his Ed-problem would vanish.

Ed smiled. He hoped it seemed as honest as he meant it.  
"The point, Oswald, is that you were right on the docks, all those months ago. We do need each other. I need you to help me figure out this mess and you need me to... well. I don't think I have to spell that out for you. Again."  
Oswald was boiling, clearly outraged, but Ed could tell he wasn't seriously angry. Not in the way he had been had anyone else said those things.

Without another word, Ed turned on his heel and left the building, a smirk on his lips.  
Oswald did love him. Not that annoying knock-off. Why that thought made him as happy as it did, he didn't know, but he would find out. And Oswald would help him. 

**Author's Note:**

> Let's play a game called "Who can find the Hannibal quote??"  
> I couldn't help myself.


End file.
